Wf)t  B,eIation  of  Biplomacj 
to  iFomjg:n  i^iostono 


3oUya  W.  fo^jter: 


5*,  2^-f. 


PRINCETON.  N.  J. 


Pre-SCTitec!  by  bine.  AublaoT- 

JX  1664  .'F78  1906^  ^ ^ 

Foster,  John  Watson,  1836- 
1917  . 

The  relation  of  diplomacy  tc 
foreign  missions 


THE 

RELATION  OF  DIPLOMACY 
TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


BY  THE  HO^'RABLE 

JOHN  W.  FOSTER 


Authorix,ed 

Edition 


THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS  OF 
SEWANEE  TENNESSEE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/relationofdiplom00fost_0 


AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  THE  FIFTH 
INTERNATIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  THE 
STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT 
NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE,  MCMVI 


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THE  RELATION  OF  DIPLOMACY 
TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

The  greater  part  of  the  entire  foreign  mission  effort 
now  being  put  forth  by  the  Christian  churches  of  the 
world  is  directed  towards  Asia.  Across  that  vast 
continent  from  west  to  east  stretches  a series  of  non- 
Christian  countries  — the  Turkish  Empire,  Persia, 
Tibet,  China,  Corea  and  Japan.  The  first  two  are 
ruled  by  tyrants  inspired  by  a bitter  hatred  to  Chris- 
tianity, and  none  of  them  except  Japan  has  any  of 
the  restraints  of  a Constitution  or  an  orderly  adminis- 
tration of  justice  and  law. 

For  these  reasons  the  Christian  nations  have  found 
it  necessary  to  exact  from  them  the  observance  of 
what  is  termed  the  practice  of  exterritoriality.  This 
is  the  exemption  under  certain  conditions  of  the  citi- 
zens or  subjects  of  the  Christian  nations  in  those 
countries  from  their  laws  and  jurisdiction.  It  is  based 
upon  the  theory  that  for  certain  purposes  they  carry 
with  them  the  territorial  status  they  would  have  if  in 
their  own  country.  This  exemption  is  regulated  by 
treaties  or  other  diplomatic  agreements,  and  is  not  uni- 
form for  all  the  countries.  In  general  it  may  be  stated, 
subject  to  certain  exceptions,  that  an  American  citizen 
resident  or  found  in  those  countries  when  charged  with 
a crime  or  an  offense  against  the  local  law  or  custom, 
must  be  tried  by  his  own  diplomatic  or  consular  rep- 


6 


THE  RELATION  OF  DIPLOMACY 


resentative,  and  if  found  guilty  the  punishment  must 
be  meted  out  by  such  officer.  American  citizens  also 
enjoy  other  privileges  in  non-Christian  countries  which 
I have  not  time  to  detail.  On  this  account  American 
diplomatic  representatives  in  Asia  have  more  intimate 
and  responsible  duties  towards  their  countrymen  than 
those  accredited  to  Christian  powers. 

The  system  of  exterritoriality  is  one  which  makes 
the  governments  where  it  is  enforced  very  restive,  and 
they  look  forward  more  or  less  impatiently  to  the  time 
when  it  may  be  abolished.  For  nearly  half  a century 
after  Commodore  Perry  opened  the  gates  of  Japan,  that 
country  labored  under  the  exterritorial  disability,  and 
it  was  not  until  some  years  after  she  had  adopted  a 
Constitution  which  guaranteed  freedom  of  religious 
belief  and  worship  and  the  other  civil  rights,  and  had 
put  in  operation  a system  of  jurisprudence  and  an  ad- 
ministration of  justice  modeled  after  that  of  the  Chris- 
tian nations,  that  she  was  released  from  that  thraldom. 

The  resentment  of  non-Christian  countries  because 
of  the  practice  of  exterritoriality  is  more  likely  to 
manifest  itself  against  missionaries  than  other  classes 
of  foreigners,  and  the  diplomatic  representatives  of 
some  Governments  are  more  on  the  alert  for  the  main- 
tenance of  their  rights  than  others.  The  French  rep- 
resentatives in  Asia  have  shown  special  zeal  for  the 
defense  of  their  missionaries,  who  are  almost  exclus- 
ively Catholics.  Whether  their  conduct  will  be  af- 
fected by  the  recent  abrogation  of  the  Papal  Concor- 


TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


7 


dat  remains  to  be  seen.  Germany  made  the  murder 
of  two  German  Catholic  missionaries  the  occasion  of 
the  seizure  of  an  important  Chinese  port,  a large  area 
of  territory,  and  the  practical  control  of  an  entire 
province.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
held  that  American  missionaries  in  foreign  lands 
were  entitled  to  the  same  protection  as  American 
merchants  or  any  other  class  lawfully  in  such  lands. 

But  in  most  of  these  Asiatic  countries  special  priv- 
ileges have  from  time  to  time  been  obtained  for 
missionaries.  In  the  bigoted  Empire  of  Turkey,  for 
instance,  the  zeal  of  the  French  Government  for  the 
Catholic  missionaries  has  forced  the  Ottomans  to 
grant  them  one  concession  after  another,  and  under 
the  “favored  nation’’  principle  the  Protestant  mis- 
sions have  shared  in  these  favors.  In  1858  the 
United  States  and  other  Christian  powers  secured 
from  China  an  express  stipulation  that  the  mission- 
aries might  teach  their  doctrines  without  being  har- 
assed or  persecuted,  and  Chinese  converts  should  in 
no  case  be  interferred  with  or  molested  on  that  ac- 
count. In  the  same  year  our  Minister  to  Japan  nego- 
tiated a treaty  which  granted  freedom  of  religious 
worship,  and  some  years  later  the  representatives  of 
the  Christian  powers  intervened  to  bring  about  the  ab- 
olition of  the  old  anti-Christian  edict.  The  last  treaty 
negotiated  by  the  United  States  with  China  is  so  recent 
(t903)>  and  contains  such  a remarkable  article  that  I 
think  it  worth  while  to  quote  it  in  full,  as  follows : 


8 


THE  RELATION  OF  DIPLOMACY 


“Article  XIV.  The  principles  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, as  professed  by  the  Protestant  and  Roman 
Catholic  churches,  are  recognized  as  teaching  men  to 
do  good  and  to  do  to  others  as  they  would  have  others 
do  to  them.  Those  who  quietly  profess  and  teach 
these  doctrines  shall  not  be  harassed  or  persecuted  on 
account  of  their  faith.  Any  person,  whether  citizen 
of  the  United  States  or  Chinese  convert,  who,  accord- 
ing to  these  tenets,  peaceably  teaches  and  practices 
the  principles  of  Christianity,  shall  in  no  case  be  in- 
terferred  with  or  molested  therefor.  No  restrictions 
shall  be  placed  on  Chinese  joining  Christian  churches. 
Converts  and  non-converts,  being  Chinese  subjects, 
shall  alike  conform  to  the  laws  of  China;  and  shall 
pay  due  respect  to  those  in  authority,  living  together 
in  peace  and  amity ; and  the  fact  of  being  converts 
shall  not  protect  them  from  the  consequences  of  any 
offense  they  may  have  committted  before  or  may  com- 
mit after  their  admission  into  the  church,  or  exempt 
them  from  paying  legal  taxes  levied  on  Chinese  sub- 
jects generally,  except  taxes  levied  and  contributions 
for  the  support  of  religious  customs  and  practices  con- 
trary to  their  faith.  Missionaries  shall  not  interfere 
with  the  exercise  by  the  native  authorities  of  their  ju- 
risdiction over  Chinese  subjects;  nor  shall  the  native 
authorities  make  any  distinction  between  converts  and 
non-converts,  but  shall  administer  the  laws  without 
partiality  so  that  both  classes  can  live  in  peace. 

“Missionary  societies  of  the  United  States  shall  be 


TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


9 


permitted  to  rent  and  to  lease  in  perpetuity,  as  the 
property  for  such  societies,  buildings  or  lands  in  all 
parts  of  the  Empire  for  missionary  purposes,  and, 
after  the  title  deeds  have  been  found  in*  order  and 
duly  stamped  by  the  local  ^authorities,  to  erect  such 
suitable  buildings  as  may  be  required  for  carrying  on 
their_^ood  work.” 

The  foregoing  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  diplo- 
matic and  consular  representatives  of  the  United 
States  and  the  American  missionaries  must  necessa- 
rily have  important  and  close  relations  with  each 
other.  This  would  be  so  if  the  practice  of  exterritor- 
iality were  the  only  bond  for  bringing  them  together. 
But  the  precision  with  which  our  treaties  have  been 
drawn  with  the  Asiatic  governments,  the  interest 
which  our  Government  at  all  times  has  shown  in  the 
work  of  the  missionaries,  and  the  care  it  has  taken  in 
securing  the  free  exercise  of  their  labors  and  in  mark- 
ing out  their  duties  and  those  of  their  converts  to  the 
local  authorities,  constitute  a certain  oversight  by  our 
diplomatic  representatives  in  those  countries. 

I am  happy  to  say  that,  with  a few  unimportant  ex- 
ceptions, the  American  representatives  in  the  Orient 
and  in  the  Far  East  have  properly  interpreted  the 
spirit  of  their  Government,  and  in  their  relations 
with  the  powers  to  which  they  have  been  accredited 
in  the  mission  work  they  have  shown  that  they  were 
the  representatives  of  a Christian  nation.  Indeed 
by  the  results  accomplished.  Commodore  Perry  was 


10 


THE  RELATION  OF  DIPLOMACY 


the  most  distinguished  American  diplomatist  in  the 
East.  When  he  steamed  into  the  Bay  of  Yeddo  with 
his  formidable  squadron  which  filled  the  subjects  of 
the  Shogun  with  fear  and  amazement,  he  gave  them 
their  first  lesson  in  Christian  institutions.  When 
Sunday  came  the  free  intercourse  which  had  been 
maintained  with  the  shore  was  entirely  suspended 
and  public  service,  as  was  the  Commodore’s  invari- 
able custom,  was  held  on  the  open  decks  of  all  his 
vessels.  One  of  the  most  useful  of  all  our  ministers 
to  Japan  was  Townsend  Harris.  During  that  unique 
negotiation  with  the  then  inexperienced  and  simple 
Japanese  which  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  1858,  he  re- 
cords in  his  diary:  “I  shall  be  both  proud  and  happy 
if  I can  be  the  humble  means  of  once  more  opening 
Japan  to  the  blessed  rule  of  Christianity.”  You  are 
familiar  with  the  good  work  done  by  the  late  Col. 
Denby,  one  of  the  most  able  and  useful  of  our  diplo- 
mats, and  of  Mr.  Conger,  recently  returned  from  Pe- 
kin, ladened  with  honors,  both  of  whom  were  the 
staunch  friends  and  supporters  of  the  missionaries. 
I might  enumerate  others  if  time  permitted. 

I am  doubtless  addressing  some  young  men  who  as- 
pire to  serve  their  country  in  a diplomatic  capacity. 
It  is  a laudable  ambition  and  I hope  you  may  attain 
your  desire.  I am  glad  to  assure  you  that  there  opens 
up  in  the  Far  East  a wide  field  of  usefulness  and  hon- 
or for  the  Christian  citizen  of  our  Republic,  who  is 
so  fortunate  as  to  go  to  those  lands  as  the  official  rep- 


TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


II 


resentative  of  his  country.  But  I address  a still  larger 
number  of  young  men  who  are  resolved  to  enter  the 
great  mission  field  of  Asia  and  to  devote  their  lives  to 
this  most  noble  of  all  causes.  It  will  be  a satisfaction 
to  them  to  know  that  many  of  their  predecessors  in 
their  humble  avocation  have  been  able  to  render  most 
valuable  service  to  the  world  and  especially  to  our  own 
Government,  in  connection  with  the  diplomatic  inter- 
course of  the  Western  nations  with  the  Far  East. 

In  the  negotiations  which  resulted  in  the  first  treaty 
ever  made  by  China  with  a Christian  nation  — that  of 
Russia  in  1689  — the  Catholic  missionaries  were  in- 
valuable participants  both  as  interpreters  and  advis- 
ers. And  all  through  the  eighteenth  century  the 
Christian  fathers  were  an  indispensable  part  of  all 
diplomatic  missions  which  visited  Pekin.  When  the 
British  Government  was  making  arrangements  to  send 
the  famous  Lord  Macartney  Embassy  to  Pekin  in  1792 
to  open  up  political  intercourse  with  the  Emperor  of 
China,  search  was  made  for  a competent  person  to  act 
as  interpreter,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Embassy  re- 
cords that  “in  all  the  British  dominions  not  one  per- 
son could  be  procured  properly  qualified,’’  and  that 
after  much  inquiry  two  Christian  Chinese  students 
were  found  in  the  mission  college  at  Naples,  Italy, 
who  were  engaged  for  that  service. 

The  well-known  English  missionary  and  interpreter, 
Dr.  Morrison,  who  first  translated  the  Bible  into  Chi- 
nese, was  the  chief  interpreter  of  the  second  British 


THE  RELATION  OF  DIPLOMACY 


Embassy  in  i8i6,  and  he  acted  as  the  ofificial  inter- 
preter and  trusted  adviser  of  the  British  Government 
and  of  the  East  India  Company  at  Canton  for  t^wenty- 
five  years.  During  the  Opium  War  of  1840  and  in  the 
peace  negotiations,  Dr.  Gutslaff,  the  German  mission- 
ary and  historian,  was  in  the  employ  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, as  interpreter  and  adviser,  and  was  most  use- 
ful in  the  negotiations.  He  was  also  of  service  to  the 
United  States  in  a similar  capacity  at  a later  date. 

When  the  first  American  diplomatic  envoy  that  was 
sent  to  the  Far  East  by  the  American  Government, 
Mr.  Roberts,  was  appointed  in  1832  to  negotiate 
treaties  with  Siam  and  other  Oriental  countries,  he 
had  first  to  go  to  Canton,  and  there  procured  the  ser- 
vices as  interpreter  of  J.  R.  Morrison,  the  son  of  Dr. 
Morrison.  A similar  service  was  rendered  for  Mr. 
Balestier,  the  American  representative,  the  negotia- 
tor of  the  treaty  with  Borneo  in  1850,  by  Mr.  Dean, 
an  American  missionary. 

In  1844  Hon.  Caleb  Cushing  was  sent  to  China  to 
establish  our  first  diplomatic  intercourse  with  that 
empire.  He  was  escorted  in  great  state  by  a squad- 
ron of  the  American  Navy.  But  he  was  utterly  pow- 
erless to  accomplish  the  great  object  our  Government 
had  in  view  till  he  obtained  at  Canton  the  services  of 
Dr.  Peter  Parker,  a medical  missionary,  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Bridgeman,  an  accomplished  Chinese  scholar,  both  of 
the  American  Board  of  Missions.  These  two  gen- 
tlemen were  made  secretaries  of  the  embassy  and 


TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


13 


through  them  the  negotiations  with  the  Chinese  plen- 
ipotentiaries were  wholly  carried  on  to  successful 
completion.  Mr.  Cushing  returned  to  America  to 
receive  the  plaudits  of  his  countrymen  for  an  achieve- 
ment due  in  large  measure  to  the  humble  mission- 
aries. Dr.  Parker  became  so  useful  to  the  Govern- 
ment that  for  several  years  he  acted  as  charge  of  the 
legation  and  later  became  the  Minister  of  the  United 
States  to  China. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  Americans  in  China  was 
Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams.  He  mastered  that  most  diffi- 
cult language,  and  came  to  be  recognized  as  the  first 
scholar  and  linguist  of  all  the  foreign  residents.  When 
our  Government  determined  to  force  an  entrance  into 
Japan,  which  had  been  hermetically  closed  against  all 
foreigners  for  centuries.  Commodore  Perry  was  dis- 
patched with  a formidable  fleet,  and  both  America 
and  Europe  were  laid  under  tribute  to  furnish  men  of 
learning  and  fitness  to  make  the  expedition  a success. 
But  before  Commodore  Perry  could  venture  on  the 
first  diplomatic  step  in  his  work,  he  had  to  repair 
with  his  fleet  to  Canton  to  take  on  board  Dr.  Williams 
as  his  interpreter  and  adviser ; and  the  narrative  which 
the  Commodore  has  left  of  his  expedition  shows  that 
in  securing  intercourse  with  the  authorities  and  in  the 
details  of  treaty  negotiations.  Dr.  Williams  was  his 
main  support,  and  to  him,  more  than  to  any  other 
person,  was  the  Commodore  indebted  for  the  com- 
plete success  of  his  expedition,  which  has  brought  so 


14 


THE  RELATION  OF  DIPLOMACY 


much  fame  to  American  diplomacy  and  which  has 
given  to  the  United  States  such  prominence  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Far  East. 

When  the  allied  British  and  French  fleets  went  to 
Tientsin  in  1858  to  exact  treaties  from  China,  the 
American  Minister  took  with  him  Dr.  Williams  as 
his  counselor  and  interpreter,  and  he  played  a very 
important  part  in  those  negotiations.  The  Minister 
reported  to  his  Government;  “I  could  not  but  for 
this  aid  have  advanced  a step  in  discharge  of  my  du- 
ties.” Years  afterwards,  when  Dr.  Williams  was 
leaving  China  to  return  to  America  to  spend  the  ev- 
ening of  his  life,  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Fish, 
wrote  him:  “Above  all,  the  Christian  world  will  not 
forget  that  to  you  more  than  to  any  other  man  is  due 
the  insertion  in  our  treaty  with  China  of  the  liberal 
provision  for  the  toleration  of  the  Christian  religion.” 
For  many  years  after  that  event  the  Doctor  continued 
as  the  trusted  adviser  of  our  Government  in  all  Chi- 
nese questions.  He  left  as  a monument  to  his  indus- 
try and  learning  the  Chinese  Dictionary,  and  he  gave 
to  the  world  in  his  “Middle  Kingdom”  the  most  com- 
plete work  on  China,  which  is  to  this  day  the  stand- 
ard authority  on  that  country. 

Another  person  took  a prominent  part  as  the  asso- 
ciate of  Dr.  Williams  in  the  Tientsin  expedition  and 
negotiations  of  1858 — Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin,  who 
went  to  that  country  as  a missionary  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  the  United  States.  He  became  pro- 


TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


IS 


ficient  in  the  Chinese  language  and  literature,  and 
was  called  into  the  service  of  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment. For  thirty  years  he  held  the  post  of  the  head 
of  the  Chinese  educational  system  in  the  foreign 
course  of  study,  and  has  acted  as  an  adviser  to  its 
Foreign  Office  in  international  affairs.  He  has  trans- 
lated into  Chinese  our  own  standard  author  on  inter- 
national law,  Wheaton,  and  other  Western  publicists. 
He  has  been  of  inestimable  service  to  the  Imperial 
Government,  and  has  been  characterized  by  Minister 
Denby  as  “the  foremost  American  in  China.’’ 

Such  are  some  of  the  services  which  Christian  mis- 
sionaries have  rendered  to  the  Western  nations  and 
to  China  in  their  political  and  diplomatic  relations. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  the  governments  of  Europe  and  America 
were  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  the  missionaries 
for  the  direct  conduct  of  their  intercourse  with  Chi- 
nese officials. 

My  object  in  this  brief  review  has  been  to  show 
the  relation  which  exists  in  the  non-Christian  coun- 
tries between  the  American  diplomatic  and  consular 
representatives  and  the  missionaries,  how  necessary 
and  intimate  must  be  this  relation,  and  what  it  has 
accomplished  in  the  past.  Let  us  hope  that  these  two 
classes  of  representatives  of  America  in  heathen  lands 
may  continue  to  work  in  harmony  for  the  honor  of 
their  own  country  and  for  the  enlightenment  and  bles- 
sing of  the  hundreds  of  millions  of  the  people  of  Asia. 


N. 


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